Author's Note: There will be changes that I need for my story. Nothing too big but there will be more as the story progresses.
1) First Robin will still be Nightwing but the Teen Titans from the TV show will still be Canon. Tim Drake will be the Robin in the Teen Titans.
2) Cyborg is still a member of the Teen Titans.
( Unknown Location )
"Where are we?" gasped Red Hood as he looks around the new scenery of plant life.
One second, he's standing on top of a building in the middle of Gotham City and the next, he's in what looks like an underground cave with wide fields of grass and a gentle river that splits down the middle of it. The source of the river is a large waterfall that is pouring down a hole from the ceiling of the cave which is also the only source of sunlight. "It wasn't sunny at Gotham the last time I checked!" thought Red Hood, remembering that it was the middle of the night just a second ago.
"This will be the hideout for the Akatsuki. At least, unofficially. It's untraceable so I highly doubt that anyone from the Justice League can find this location" said Naruto as he sits down on the grass and watches the river flow by. He has always found it peaceful and relaxing to watch nature at its finest.
"And pray tell, how did we get here? And where is here in the first place?" asked Red Hood, looking over at the stranger who he has yet to get a name off of. With the sudden intrusion and the discovery of Joker's death, he never had the chance to ask. "By the way, got a name I can call ya?"
Naruto stares at a nearby bed of lilies, contemplating on a name. Just like everyone else with powers, he's going to need a name or title. Someway for the people to address him when the time comes. "I'm... Sage."
Red Hood raises a brow from underneath his mask. "That's it? No overdramatic name like Superman or the Green Lantern?"
Naruto turns to look at Red Hood from over his shoulder. "I was gonna but Red Hood was taken." The sarcasm pouring out of Naruto's tone could literally drown the former Boy Wonder.
"Toüche." Red Hood snaps his fingers before eventually taking a seat on a nearby boulder. "You still haven't told me where we are and how we got here."
"For where we are, we're in my own personal dimension. Away from all prying eyes and open ears" simply said Naruto.
Red Hood stares at Naruto with a hint of disbelief. Yes, there have been rumors of the Justice League and a few others travelling through space and dimensions but he has never seen or experienced dimension travel before. Taking a closer look of the underground exterior, he does notice a few plants that don't look too normal, not even to Poison Ivy's standards. The bedrock making up the underground walls are also shaped and coloured wierdly.
"So you've noticed" said Naruto with a small smirk.
"When there are plants staring at you with sharp teeth and drool, you tend to notice" replied Red Hoof with a shake of his head. "So, I'm not one to hate nature and whatnot but when do we start?" he asked in a bit of impatience. There's so many criminals to kill and with a team, he could finally kill off some of the bigger names like Scarecrow and Bane. While he may be good, he isn't ballsy enough to take down the people who have a lot more men ready to handle him if necessary.
"First off, we must find more members. We won't be able to spread our influence with only the two of us" answered Naruto with Red Hood nodding in agreement. He needs strong and motivated members with a wide range of skills. He thinks of a few skills he wants in his group, such as the muscle and a technician.
"Any ideas on new members?" asked Red Hood.
Naruto hums to himself over the thought of who he should recruit. He has a few names on the list from a few rumors he has been hearing and it just so happens that a majority of them are occupying the most 'secure' prison in Gotham City. "I have a few ideas. While I'm out recruiting, you can stay here and get to know the layout. I shouldn't be long anyway." Before Red Hood can argue, Naruto vanishes from sight and disappears from the dimension altogether in search for recruits to join the Akatsuki.
"Jackass" muttered Red Hood as he folds his arms. With nothing else to do until his ride out of wherever he is comes back, the former apprentice of Batman gets up from the boulder and heads out to look around, although he makes sure to stand clear of the violet plants that are still eying him with hungry look.
( Gotham City - Arkham Asylum )
Floating overhead of the infamous prison/rehabilitation clinic is Naruto. Keeping him afloat in midair are six Truth Seeking Balls that are floating behind him. Usually, he would have been seen by someone since a man in the air always grabs attention but with it being the middle of the night, the cloak of darkness shields him from any prying eyes. With the Rinne-Sharingan activated, he uses his powerful eyes to scan the layout of Arkham Asylum to see if there's anything that might hinder his progress for finding recruits for the Akatsuki.
Watch towers surround the corners of the prison with a thirty foot wall separating them. Automatic turrets with mounted spotlights scan the courtyard of Arkham from the towers. Looking through the walls, Naruto quickly counts fifty guards with only half of them possessing heavy armour and weapons. Several guards patrol the halls of the prison where the prisoners are held in small rooms with bullet proof glass acting as bars and shock resistance walls to prevent the more physically enhanced criminals from breaking out.
Naruto can see an underground passage leading into a complex underneath the prison. The complex is slightly smaller than Arkham's surface prison but there is more security since only the most powerful and criminally insane individuals are placed in the underground complex. It's in the underground complex where he can sense something strange. One of the many abilities he possesses is to sense emotions from within everyone.
However, the emotions he can sense from underneath the prison isn't normal by human standards. To be honest, he has never felt these emotions before. Not in such rapid and random patterns anyway. While he can feel the anger, sadness, grief and boredom from the other prisoners, someone doesn't seem to know what they're feeling. For one second, he can feel a burning anger until it changes to the worst sort of sadness before changing into bubbly joy.
"Well... that's a new one" thought Naruto, unsure but curious over the phenomenon. Without the need of a hand sign, a Shadow Clone appears into reality beside him without so much as a whisper of smoke. The Shadow Clone vanishes from sight due to using Jonin level speed as it heads off to do its job.
For a split second, Naruto considers to just go and kill the criminals that are currently resting in Arkham but quickly decides against it. If he wants to change the world for the better, he needs the support of the people. Just showing up and slaughtering the Villains won't exactly impress the populace, no matter how evil the Villains are. He needs to start it slow while getting the support from the population away from the Justice League and with the Akatsuki. Besides, they'll be dead soon enough.
With the layout memorized, Naruto opens a dimension portal beside him and floats in it to find himself in Arkham's laundry room.
He drops to the floor and calmly walks to the wall, beside the door. Just as he expected, one of the laundry men walks into the room with a trolley full of dirty prison clothes.
There's nothing significant about the worker as he looks to be in his late fifties with grey starting to cover the brown in his hair. The cleaner tips the trolley to spill the bags of clothes into a pile, not once noticing the extra person who is silently walking up behind him. After filling the trolley with bags of clean clothes, the cleaner turns around and the first thing he sees is a pair of purple ringed eyes with tomoes before falling into blissful unconsciousness, due to a small Genjutsu.
Before the cleaner can hit the floor, Naruto grabs him by the back of his collar and drags him to the corner of the room and places him behind one of the many washing machines. He even piles bags of dirty clothes on the cleaner to keep him out of sight. Satisfied, Naruto explodes in a poof of smoke and when the smoke disperses, it shows Naruto disguised as the cleaner. With a smile, he takes the clothes and heads out to the halls and walls by the guards who don't even give him a second glance.
Naruto calmly walks by the bulletproof glass cells and ignores the cursed and shouts from the prisoners while he pushes through the clean bags of clothes through the slot in the glass door which can only be open from the outside. All of a sudden, a rush of memories fills his head after his Shadow Clone pops out of existance. He had sent the Shadow Clone to find records on the prisoners and it didn't take him long.
It turns out that all the prisoners are ranked according to the amount of stars they have with five being the highest and one being the lowest. For each star, the more dangerous the criminals are nd it just so happens that he is walking by one of the five stars right now. From the memories of his Shadow Clone, there are only two five star criminals who aren't locked up in the underground facility, due to them preferring to not cause trouble.
Inside the cell, Floyd Lawton or rather, Deadshot is currently doing push ups while standing on his hands.
From the record, Deadshot earned his name from being the world's best marksman since he has never missed a shot with a gun. It is said that he has mastered the use of every gun there is, from the smallest pistol to the heaviest rocket launcher. He is also an expert with hand-to-hand combat as it is said that the has faced off against Batman several times in his career. While he isn't as destructive as the other criminals in Arkham Asylum, he isn't one to be underestimated as he is also known as the second best mercenary in the world, just before Deathstroke.
"Having a Marksman can be quite handy for the more... unique moments."
The disguised Jinchuriki stops by the cell while Floyd flips to his feet and walks towards the glass door.
"Hey Frank, how's the missus?" asked Floyd while he uses the bottom of his prison shirt to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
"You know, same ole, same old" replied Naruto with a smile before he opens the slot and passes the bag of clothes into the cell. To his surprise, Floyd suddenly grabs his arm in a tight grab with one hand while his other presses a shiv to his wrist.
"Your first mistake was actually speaking to me. If you did your homework, you would know that none of the cleaners would try to look at me in the eye. You would also know that his name isn't Frank. So how about we ignore the chitter chatter and tell me who hired you?" Floyd presses the shiv deep enough to pierce skin but enough to rest against a vein.
Naruto doesn't flinch against the small knife but is inwardly impressed with now he was caught. "Impressive. Nobody else didn't even bat an eyelash at my disguise."
"My eyes are sharper than most peoples when in my type of work. You still didn't tell me who hired you so if you want to leave with most of your blood I'd be telling."
"Nobody hired me." From the slight pressure into his wrist, it's clear that Floyd doesn't believe him. "In fact, you could say I want to hire you."
Floyd raises a brow in amusement. "Hire me? I don't think you can afford me."
"I think I can tempt you but not until you let go of my hand. Don't want any guards to get suspicious and interrupt us?" He can think of six different ways to easily get back his hand but all require some form of violence that he can't show off if he wants to recruit him.
Floyd makes a thinking expression for a whole minute before he eventually let's go.
"I'm currently recruiting members for my group. Congratulation, you made the cut" said Naruto with a smirk.
Floyd looks at the disguised Jinchuriki like as if he is insane. "You're insane! You broke into Arkham just to find recruits? The same place they keep the biggest baddies of us all?"
"The best place to recruit in my opinion."
Floyd gives him a skeptical look. "Can't argue with you there but why should I give a damn on joining some gang?"
Naruto took offence to that as his eyes sharpen which surprises Floyd but he doesn't show it. "The Akatsuki are no simple gang. We are a revolution. The Akatsuki will be the ones to finish what the Justice League started."
"Justice League? So you want to play with the big leagues?" asked Deadshot in humour. "Remind me again, what are the Justice League not doing?"
"The execution of all Villains."
All of a sudden, a cold chill washes through Floyd's bones. It's even starting to get harder to breathe for him while sweat that wasn't from his excercieses is dripping off of him. "W-What the hell is going on!" thought Floyd, feeling his heart rate increase tenfold.
"That reminds me, I've checked your record. Seems you've done quite a few bad things in your life, Mr. Deadshot." Floyd finds an invisible pressure suddenly bring him down to his knees but as much as he tries to fight against it, it only seems to get heavier.
"W-What d-do you w-want?" asked Floyd through his gritted teeth.
Naruto glares down at the man who has done a lot more bad than good in his life. "I want for the world to change and you're gonna help me to do it."
xXx
After successfully 'convincing' Deadshot and teleporting him to their base of dimensions, Naruto walks towards the end of the hall, where the elevator that goes to the underground complex is. Of course, there are two heavily armed security guards by the doors.
One of the guards sees the disguised Naruto walk over so he walks forward with his hand out. "This area is off limits" warned the guard. Naruto doesn't even glance at the man as he continues to walk towards the door.
"Did you not here me? I told you tha-" This time, Naruto does glance at him but with the Rinne-Sharingan. He places a Genjutsu which erases their memories of himself which works like a charm when the guard loses focus of his objective and goes back to his position. Naruto enters the door and into the lift before pressing the down button. After a few minutes of waiting the elevator door opens. Before leaving, Naruto uses his Chakra to reflect the light away from his body, therefore making it look like he is invisible to the naked eye.
There, he walks down the hallway, making sure to sidestep the guards who walk by him without noticing. While he walks halfway down the hall, he stops and turns towards a set of double doors. The reason is because behind the doors, he can feel the strange mess of emotions from before. However, being so close to the source, Naruto can feel a headache coming along. He walks forward and opens the doors to find the source of the emotional chaos.
He walks on a scaffold and looks around the large room. He notices the cameras that are all angled in every direction but pays little heed to them. Unlike the other rooms, this one has no guards but he can sense several live signatures in a room next door. In the centre of the room is a literal cage but it's what is inside the cage that has his curious attention.
Even after years of sleep and lack of human contact, Naruto still knows beauty when he sees it. Although, his interest for the pink-haired woman in the past may have been his only fault on the Mister. She wasn't bad to look at but in the inside, she was just plain ugly. He can't remember much about his experience with the woman but most of them are filled with bad memories and her physically hitting him.
The woman inside the cage has the pink-haired one beat in beauty by miles. She has smooth pale skin with no hints of blemishes, long silky blonde hair that reaches just above her round rear and she has a figure that could be compared to a model's. To the eye, she looks beautiful and could capture a man's interest with a simple glance.
Naruto knows better. Looks can very well be deceiving.
The woman has tied a blanket to a high cage bar from one side to the other. She's using it to swing and flip in her cell, showing off graceful that one would find from a professional acrobat.
Narutl walks silently towards the steps to the bottom floor while keeping his eyes on the woman. Even as he watches her flip around her stretched blanket with a serene expression which would make it seem like she's calm and enjoying herself, the emotions that's radiating off of her is telling him a different story. Even without the Rinne-Sharingan, his sharp eyes can see a strange aura surrounding her. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that from how the aura is rapidly changing colours, it indicates her emotional distress.
This impresses Naruto, seeing as not a lot of people show the capabilities to express their emotions in a spiritual manner. In fact, he notes how she's doing it in a way that a Ninja would express Killing Intent.
Naruto stops mid-step when the woman stops her twirls and balances herself in the air by gripping onto the blanket. She swings off the blanket and walks over to the bars while looking around the room with a curious expression.
Naruto immediately senses something very off. All the emotions that the woman was radiating off has suddenly vanished and now, she simply has nothing. He tries to sense something but all he senses is a hollow cold feeling. "That isn't good..."
The woman looks around the room, seemingly looking for something. "What is she looking f-"
"Who are you?"
While he isn't one to get jumped easily, he did have to stop himself from fidgeting as the woman looks straight at him, something in which should be impossible since he is invisible to the naked eye. He's footsteps are silent as weall, yet she can seemingly see him.
Harley Quinn is an odd woman.
Cancelling his Invisibility Jutsu, he makes his way down the walkway while keeping his eyes solely on Harley who doesn't break eye contact with him once. He walks down the steps and heads towards her cell while inwardly finding the woman fascinating. To the eye, she looks like a calm young woman with a playful glint in her eye. Inwardly, she is a wreck as her emotions are going haywire. Naruto stops in front of the cell, close enough to touch the cell bars if he wants. The pair just stare into each others eyes, seemingly waiting for one of them to break the tension.
Harley did the honours. "Are you a God?"
"Not a question I would have expected" he thought. Remembering the memories from the clone, he considers if he should stay or just leave her. Apparently, she is a highly skilled hand-to-hand specialist who uses her flexibility and her unpredictably to get the upper hand on most opponents. What he is worried about is that it read on her file that she is insanely devoted to the Joker and he doesn't just mean that figuratively. While she could become a useful and capable member of the Akatsuki, he can't exactly have the chance of her striking out at the group when she finds out who ended the Joker.
Not something he wants as she is said to be even more insane than the Joker himself. Being this close to her, Naruto can attest to that.
"No" he answered with a calm shake of the head. "Nobody can become a God."
( Security Room )
An overweight guard is sitting in his chair with his legs up and eating away on a burger while skimming through the several monitors that makes up the security system for the underground section of the prison. So far, he hasn't seen anything strange and even if he did, he would have already been paid to ignore it.
That's why that when he saw someone standing in front of the cell of Harley Quinn and having no recollection of getting a bribe, he immediately stands up and presses his face closer to the monitor to make sure he isn't just seeing things. He reaches out for the alarm that would signal the security guards beside the room but another hand grabs his arm in a tight grip. Following the arm, the guards widens his eyes when he sees the exact same guy who is supposedly standing in Harley's cell room.
The guard opens his mouth to scream for help but Naruto's eyes shift to that of his Rinne-Sharingan and casts two Genjutsu on him. The first Genjutsu is to wipe out the recent memories of the guard while the second is to knock him into unconsciousness.
Naruto's Shadow Clone palaces the guard back into his chair and places his head on his folded arms on the desk to give off the impression that he's sleeping. Standing up to full height, he looks around the room that is full of panels and memory banks and walks over to one of them. He places one finger on the panel and releases a pulse of electricity into it. The electricity short circuits all of the connected equipment, destroying all the footage that shows his real self with Harley.
With that done, he opens another rift in the dimension and walks through it.
xXx
"People say that Superman is a God" replied Harley with the innocence of a child.
"He's nothing but a False God. A man with overwhelming power that people consider when depicting him as some sort of God" he answered, ignoring the memories of his Shadow Clone. Being safe than sorry, he has looked up much I formation about the Justice League and surprisingly, Superman's information was a lot easier to get than anyone else's. It seems that everyone knows about the Man of Steel's weakness to Kryptonite, something that Naruto will take full advantage of when the time calls for it.
Harley tilts her head like a cute puppy until the innocent expression is gone when an insane smile erupts across Harley's face. Naruto can sense her emotions bubbling up and becoming more happy "You're a bit of a wierdo, ain't ya?"
"I could probably say the same thing to you" remarked Naruto with a shrug of his shoulders.
Harley leans back while still holding onto the steel bars and laughs like as if he just told her the funniest joke in the world. "You're a funny guy!" she said, pushing herself up and licks a bar in an erotic way. "I like funny guys" she purred with a flirty smirk.
Surprisingly, a chill goes up Naruto's spine but it's mostly because of what she just said about liking funny guys and her former fling was with the Joker of all people, someone who doesn't seem like a guy with a good sense of humour. "Is that why you hung around with the Joker?" he asked, wanting to know about her current opinion of the deceased criminal. What he doesn't expect is for her emotions to concentrate solely on one.
Anger.
"Mister J can go to hell for all I care!" she yelled, turning her head with a huff, similar to that of a child who hasn't gotten their way. "He knows I can't swim but he drove us into the river anyway. It isn't like he's nice to me anyway so why should I care if he doesn't?" she ranted with a scowl.
"Looks like I might be getting a new recruit after all" thought Naruto as he watches Harley rant about the treatment of the deceased Clown Prince.
"For what I can offer, I'm sorry for what had to have been out through. If it's any condolence, the Joker is dead." He instantly senses Harley bad mood suddenly shift to joy with a second of those words leaving his mouth.
"Really? Really? Really? Really?" she chanted, jumping up and down in her cell like a child pumped up with sugar. "Is Mister J really dead?" she asked with a lot of hope in her voice.
"I have his body to prove it."
"Can I see it?" she all but demanded.
"Maybe, but there's something that I wa-"
"Anything! Just let me see the basterds rotting corpse!" Harley pleaded while placing her hands together in a begging manner.
Naruto shakes his head with a small smirk. "Very well."
Using his Magnet Release, the bars for the cell bends apart, leaving a nicely sized gap for Harley. Naruto offers his hand for her to take. "Shall we?"
"We shall!" laughed Harley as she grasps his hand tightly.
With that, both silver out of existance, Harley's insane laughs bouncing off the walls as the pair exit the dimension.
xXx
"No fucking way!"
"I didn't ask for your opinion."
"I don't give a flying fuck if you asked for my opinion or not! I am not working with a psychopath! Especially if that psychopath is the girlfriend of the Joker!" argued Red Hood as he points over the a giggling Harley who isn't paying him any heed and is instead, prodding the Joker's corpse with her foot.
"You'll be stationed in separate cities anyway so I highly doubt that you two will see each other often" said Naruto with a shrug of his shoulders as he forgos talking to Red Hood to the face so he can instead watch the river flow by in the cave of his private dimension.
Deadshot is leaning against a nearby tree with his eyes closed and arms folded, looking like the pinnacle of calm. Inwardly, he is feeling nervous which isn't a feeling he is use to. Nobody can blame him since not just twenty minutes ago, he was locked up in Arkham with no hope to see his daughter without fighting his way out. Now, he finds himself free but threatened into a group by someone he hasn't even heard of before. There's also the fact that the same guy who took him out of prison is the same person who killed the Joker of all people. Someone who he wouldn't even try to kill, not without nine digits in his bank account.
"When I get my guns, I'll make a runner" he thought to himself, planning to escape from wherever he is and return back to Gotham when the time is right. His eyes scans the small group around him, feeling certain that he can handle them all if surprised.
"If you try, I'll kill you."
Deadshot opens his eyes, feeling startled to the familiar voice in his head that he doesn't recognize as his own. His eyes shift over to the owner of said voice who hasn't moved from his spot for the last five minutes. His eyes widens when the Sage's eyes shift from the river to meet his own for a brief second, although it's enough for him to know that what he heard wasn't just his imagination.
A portal opens up from afar as another Naruto walks through it with two boxes floating behind him.
"Good, your equipment is here" said Naruto, getting up and walking towards his Clone who poofs away into smoke and drops the crates.
"Now, that was cool" complimented Red Hood, pointing to where the Shadow Clone proofed away.
"Yay~! My stuff!" cheered Harley as she makes a beeline for the wooden box that has her name on it.
Deadshot eyes the crate with his own name on it, walks over to it and opens it up. He smirks when he sees his large arsenal of weaponry in the box, all nearly placed together with the few boxes of ammo he was carrying during the time of his arrest. Eying the only item that doesn't shoot bullets and explosives, he reaches for it and takes out a mask. The iconic mask that everyone recognizes as his own. He slips it on and sighs in satisfaction to the familiar feel of his mask's material and the view of his targeting device on the right eye of his mask. He reaches back into his crate and starts setting up his weapons for use again, starting with his wrist-mounted machine gun gauntlets.
Harley's swings her ass around as she has thrown her torso into her crate to fish out her own gear. She pulls herself out with her iconic red and black jester outfit in her hands. "I think I've outgrown this" said Harley with a giggle before throwing the costume over her shoulder. She jumps back in and squeals happily before she pulls out her hammer. "I found hammy!" she cheered while placing the hammer over her shoulder.
Naruto narrows his eyes towards the hammer. His sensitive hearing can detect a ticking sound that is starting to aggravate him. Activating his Rinne-Sharingan for a brief second, his guess is proven correct when he sees a very dangerous item in the head of Harley's hammer. He stands up and walks in front of Harley who looks up at him with a tilt of her head. "Could I see that hammer of yours for a second?"
Harley pouts as she looks at her hammer and back at Naruto. "But I just got Hammy" she pouted but gave him the weapon anyway.
Naruto nods gratefully before eying the head of the hammer. Everyone is looking at their 'boss' curiously while wondering what's going on with him. Naruto takes one side of the hammer's head and to Harley's horror, rips it off.
"HAMMY!"
"I'll make you a better one. I don't think you will want this one now" said Naruto as he pulls out the contents of the hammer. Everyone widens their eyes when they see a bomb in Naruto's hand. "I'm guessing this was a gift from the Joker?"
"B-But" stuttered Harley, her insane mind not able to comprehend that in her favourite weapon, which she got for her birthday from 'puddin', was a bomb. The same weapon she was using to hit against bodies and skulls actually had a bomb which could have gone off at anytime, killing her in the process. Growling, she snarls and runs over to the Joker's corpse before using all of her strength to beat up the Joker's corpse.
"I think I'll keep this" thought Naruto as the bomb pops away into smoke. Ignoring Harley releasing her stress on the Joker's body, he sits back into his spot.
"I knew the Joker was batshit crazy but that's just too much" said Red Hood with a shake of his head.
Ten minutes later, a panting Harley walks away from the bruised and broken body of the Joker and sits beside Naruto with a high-pitch, "Hmph!"
Naruto eyes her for a second before looking back at the river. "You have a bad taste on boyfriends."
"Tell me about it" muttered Harley with a scowl.
Red Hood and Deadshot jump up when violet flames appear beside the Joker's body before the King of Hell's head pops up and swallows up the battered body before vanishing again. Unsurprisingly, neither Naruto or Harley twitch as one is the one responsible for summoning the Demon and the other is insane.
"What the fuck was that!" grunted Deadshot as he aims his carbine at the empty space where the King of Hell once resided.
"Hell if I know. Sage summoned it earlier and it spat out the Joker's body" replied Red Hood, his pistol aiming towards the same spot before he sighs and places it back into his holster.
"If you two are done, we need to collect the rest of our group" said Naruto, amused over the scene. Harley giggles beside him, finding the sight of the vigilante and mercenary jumping up in surprise funny as well.
"And pray tell, who are the lucky ones to join our 'almighty' group?" asked Deadshot with a roll of his eyes.
Naruto ignores him but pulls a picture out of his right sleeve and throws it over to Red Hood like a shuriken. Red Hood catches it easily and looks at the picture, narrowing his eyes. "These guys look familiar" he muttered, trying to remember where he recognizes the three.
"They should. Your predecessor meets them quite often in the city he watches over."
Red Hood furrows his brow in thought. "That's right, but I can't remember their names."
"Jinx, Mammoth and Gizmo" answered Naruto. "They aren't too experienced but with the right training, they could be quite a formidable group."
That is when Deadshot draws the line. "Hell no! I'm not working with anymore amateurs. This guy is bad enough as it is, we don't need anymore people who'll just hold me back" exclaimed Deadshot while pointing over at the former Boy Wonder who glares at the merc.
"If you want, I can show you how much of an amateur I truly am" growled Red Hood with his hand reaching out for one of his pistols.
"Kid, you're twenty years too young to even think about taking me on" threatened Deadshot as he pulls out a sawed-off shotgun and aims it at Red Hood who responds by aiming a pistol at the merc.
"Yay~, bloodbath!" cheered Harley while jumping up and down and cheering.
Before anyone can pull a trigger, a cold chill fills the air and a heavy presence falls on all of them. Everyone, even Harley quiets down as something invisible starts to tighten around their throats yet, they can't see what it is. Deadshot and Red Hood collapse to their knees, hands to their throats to somehow ease the slow and agonizing sensation. Harley gasps with a wide grin on her face, although the sweat pouring down her brow shows that she is finding the feeling as cold and painful as the other two.
"I chose you three because I thought that I was getting a team of killers who can do some right for the world. Instead, it seems like I just got a group of squabbling children who can't play together." Naruto's blue eyes glares at the trio before he pulls back his KI from suffocating them. Such a simple trick wouldn't have effected a Chunin but it seems to work a lot on the simple people.
"W-What the hell is this guy?" wondered Deadshot as he breathes in the wonderful fresh air.
"Now, since we've wasted enough time as it is, let's find some new members, shall we?" he asked, calmly. The others, except for a grinning Harley finds his stoic expression and calm facade disturbing. While it makes up Batman's character, he always has his mask and costume on to make his stoic expression terrifying. The Sage on the other hand is giving them chills just by his expression alone.
"S-Sure" said Red Hood, inwardly cursing himself for stuttering, even for a tiny bit.
"But first, you should all get use the logo of the AkatsukI since we'll be partners for a while." Naruto walks over to Deadshot first and before the merc can stop him, Naruto's palm touches the right side of his armour's chest. Smoke wafts through his fingers before he pulls his hand back to reveal the red and black cloud symbol of Akatsuki.
"Fucking perfect."
Ignoring the grumbling merc, Naruto heads over to Red Hood who shrugs his shoulders and turns around. He points his thumbs to his back and Naruto nods before placing the symbol to the back of his jacket.
"Do me! Do me!" chanted Harley while running in front of Naruto with a happy smile on her face. Naruto reaches his hand, only for Harley to grab it and pull it into her left breast. She moans as the symbol etches into the black and red fabric of her tube top. Naruto raises a brow but doesn't say anything as he pulls back his hand. Harley winks before cartwheeling away.
With a shake of his head, he looks over to the merc and vigilante. "You and Deadshot will head to Jump City. Find the targets and give them their invites."
"And if they say no?" Deadshot pulls back the chamber of his pistol.
"Then just return. Just because they reject my invite doesn't mean that I'll kill them." Naruto walks in front of Deadshot and opens his hand to show three rings. "Wear these rings at all times. It allows us to communicate with one another and if needed, press the top of it and it'll teleport you back here. For those situations you can't handle."
Deadshot takes a ring and eyes it curiously, or more likely the Kanji written on it. Shrugging, he places the ring on his left middle finger. Red Hood took his and placed it on his right ring finger while Harley put hers on her left index finger with a smile.
"How are we getting to Jump City?" asked Red Hood.
Naruto doesn't answer but a dimensional portal does open up beside Red Hood who looks through it and sees the city, as well as Titan Tower in the background. "Happy trails" said Naruto.
"There's nothing too happy about" grumbled Deadshot as he reluctantly walks through the portal with Red Hood. It closes behind them once they are fully through.
"Now then-" He's interrupted by a jumping Harley Quinn.
"Can we go and get my babies!? Pretty please!" she begged with a tear in her eye.
Naruto raises a brow since he doesn't remember anything about her having children in her file. "Of course, but I didn't know you had children."
Harley pouts up at the silverette. "They aren't my children, they're my babies!"
Naruto can't help but feel that he should have left the insane woman back at Arkham.
( Jump City - Hive Five HQ)
Sitting on the large couch in the sitting room of the Hive Five's headquarters are Gizmo and Mammoth, two individuals who couldn't be anymore different if they tried. "What an absolute shitstorm!" cursed Gizmo, his tiny legs hanging off the couch while he has his face in his hands.
Mammoth sighs while leaning his large arms against his knees. "What do we do now?"
"How the fuck should I know!" yelled Gizmo, jumping to his feet on the couch. He grits his teeth as he looks around their empty base. After that whole mess with the Brotherhood of Evil and Teen Titans, everything has gotten from bad to worse.
It all started when the remnants of the Teen Titans attacked them before they could finish off Robin. They then started to release the rest of the Teen Titans from the ice containment and it didn't take long for Gizmo and even Mammoth to figure out that the Brotherhood of Evil was losing the fight. Themselves, including See-More, Kid Wykkyd and Billy Numerous attempted to escape through the battle early on but was stopped by none other than their former comrade and leader, Jinx who they've heard has joined up with the Teen Titans.
They just barely escaped from being captured but the betrayel of Jinx did not go well with them. Billy, Kid and See-More left yesterday to go on their own, not like Gizmo can blame them.
"*Sigh*, we can't stay here. Jinx knows all of our hideouts. It won't be long till the Titans start raiding them" sighed Gizmo, sadly. He can feel that Jinx's betrayel is hurting him more than he would have liked. They've been friends for years, yet it meant little to her.
"Seems like we came in the nick of time."
Both Mammoth and Gizmo jump away from the couch and turn to face the owner of the voice. Only, the two criminals find their voices caught in their throats when they see who is standing not just a few feet away from them in their base.
Deadshot leans against the doorway, looking over at the teens in boredom while Red Hood is standing closer with his arms folded, seemingly eying the pair for any uses.
"H-Holy s-shit" muttered Gizmo, sweat pouring down his tiny body as he tries his best to not twitch in front of the two biggest names in Gotham City. Even Mammoth is at a lost of words. While he may be physically stronger then the two, that doesn't mean that he stands a single chance against one of them.
"I think we broke them" chuckled Red Hood.
"Whatever. Let's just get this done and over with."
Red Hood walks over to the pair who have yet to move, their 'fight and flight' system having broken due to their fear taking over. He looks down at the tiny Gizmo and up at the large Mammoth, his eyes making an eye smile. "We've got a bit of a proposition for you two."
xXx
The doors of the Hive Five's base explodes as Cyborg, Beast Boy, Jinx, Speedy and Kid Flash enter the room. Cyborg and Speedy aim their respective weapons around in case of a surprise attack. Beast Boy jumps onto the couch and snarls in his lion form while Jinx and Kid Flash walk into the room last.
"Good to be back" smiled Kid Flash, thinking back to the time when he invited himself in. Doing a quick stretch, he blurs around the entire base to look for the rest of the High Five but he returns to the rest of the group with his arms shrugging. "I can't find them anywhere."
Jinx looks at her boyfriend, a bit skeptic. "They have to be here. There isn't anywhere else they could be."
Cyborg walks over to the large computer and starts searching for any useful information that might have on the missing members of the Hive Five. However, he frowns when the screen darkens with a small Gizmo pixel laughing at them before the screen turns off and the controls sparks. "Great, the pipsqueak rigged the computer with a fail safe. Everything they have is fried."
Beast Boy converts back into his normal form and points his thumb to the door. "Come on, let's head back home. I'm sure they'll pop up sooner than later anyway."
"I guess" muttered Jinx with a frown. She tries to think back to any other base her former teammates might be at but can't recall any that haven't been raided by the other Titans yet. With nothing to go on, she leaves the base which has been her home for the last two years.
( Naruto's Dimension )
"Gizmo."
"Yes, Mammoth?"
"I think we're way out of our league here."
"I know"
Gizmo and Mammoth are standing side by side with each other, trying to make themselves as small as possible. One of the reasons being that they have found themselves in some sort of underground cave with a lot of strange plants, some of them even looking at themselves hungrily. The main reason for their discomfort is because they are with three of the biggest names and killers in Gotham City, if not the whole country.
Red Hood is leaning against a nearby tree with his arms folded and his finger tapping his arm in impatience. Clearly, he is annoyed by something and is on the verge of making it known.
Deadshot is taking apart and fixing up a few of his rifles on a boulder.
Harley is laughing away as her 'babies' lick her face in joy. Said babies being her pet hyenas who are very happy to be with their owner again.
"Ah, it's nice of you two to come. To be honest, I didn't think you would agree" said Naruto from behind the pair of rookie criminals who jumps in fright since they never heard him come from behind.
"W-Who are you?" asked Mammoth with a bit of a stutter.
Naruto smiles slightly up at the large man, "I'm the leader of this fine group. You can call me Sage."
"This guy is the leader!?" thought Gizmo, frantically. If he is someone who can somehow control Deadshot and Harley Quinn, he knows that he isn't someone to mess around with. "W-We didn't really have much of a choice. Titans were gonna catch us sooner or later anyway. With us being in a different dimension of all places, I don't think they'll be finding us anytime soon." Even now, Gizmo is having a hard time believing that he is somehow in a separate dimension. And from what he could get out of Red Hood, the dimension is owned and created by the leader of the Akatsuki group.
Naruto nods. "Yes, I've heard of what happened between the Brotherhood of Evil and the Teen Titans. A shame about Jinx though, betrayel isn't something anyone should suffer through." Naruto frowns as his head stings as a certain memory flashes before his eyes.
Deadshot and Harley eye the Sage for a few seconds before returning back to what they were doing.
"Any questions while I'm here?"
Mammoth cough to clear up his throat. "This A-Akatsuki group... what is it?"
"Akatsuki is a group who will end what the heroes have started." Mammoth and Gizmo blink, unsure what he means by that. "In other words, we are to kill every major Villain and more, ending the circle of hatred in which the Justice League refuses to cut themselves."
It takes a second for Gizmo's smart mind to compute what he just told them. "Holy shit! Are you for fucking real!" shouted Gizmo, forgetting on who's in the dimension with him. "We don't give a fuck about what the Justice League does but to kill? Sorry to tell ya bug but I'm not into that." Mammoth looks over his shoulder and stiffens when he sees that the other three are staring at them.
"Umm, Giz.."
"You're fucking mental! What, we're gonna start killing off the Joker? Bane? Don't make me fucking laugh! Going against them is a suicide mission!" Naruto doesn't blink as Gizmo continues to rant, ignoring Mammoth's pleas for him to shut up.
"Aww~, is the little baby afraid to play with the big boys?"
Gizmo stiffens when he feels a thin finger brush against his cheek as the voice coos in his ear. The problem is that the owner of said hand is Harley Quinn who is grinning quite happily.
"Harley."
Harley pouts when she hears the serious stoic tone from her new boss. "Fine~" she moaned in disappointment. She smirks as she crouches down to Gizmo's height and whispers in his ear, "By the way, Sage already killed Mister J so I would watch my mouth if I were you." Ignoring the light glare from the Sage, she giggles and flips away to pet her 'babies'.
Naruto looks back down at Gizmo who looks to have returned back into his confident, loud self, although the hint of sweat shows that he now understands who is in the room with him and is probably contemplating on what Harley just told him. "While I cannot change your priorities or beliefs, I will admit that I need you for your technical genius. You will not be required to personally kill anyone. Just supply Akatsuki with gear and technological aid."
Gizmo frowns and thinks it over for a minute before he nods his head in agreement.
"Umm, what about me?" asked Mammoth, timidly raising this hand up.
Naruto turns to the giant and his lips twitch upwards. "While the Akatsuki have plenty of skilled individuals, there is always a need for muscle. Seeing as you have the strength of twelve men, with the right training, I'm sure that you can be a monster to be reckoned with."
Mammoth taps his chin with his large finger, admittingly liking the sound of that. However, Gizmo isn't yet done. "What about funds? I can't do shit without the needed equipment!"
Naruto closes his eyes and hums to himself before opening them, revealing his Rinne-Sharingan.
Suddenly, everyone finds their footing gone as the dimension shifts around them. Everyone but Harley shouts and screams in surprise while the insane woman laughs as they land on something hard.
Red Hood groans as he sits up and rubs his back to ease the pain. Feeling something strange, he picks up his hand from the floor and looks at it. He widens his eyes behind his mask when he sees that the contents of his hands are actual gold coins. Looking around, he finds it suddenly hard to breath when he takes in the sight of mountains of gold.
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" yelled Gizmo, eyes widening in size while also drooling over the sparkling goodness which is gold.
"Is this all real?" asked Deadshot in disbelief as he eyes a gold coin between his fingertips.
"Yes, it's all real." Looking up, Deadshot sees the Sage slowly glide down to his side and wonders how he's doing that. "Think of of all this as encouragement. Everyone major criminal you kill, a nice sum of gold coins find themselves in your pocket" told Naruto, knowing that while his threat of killing him may be encouraging enough, there's nothing more encouraging than a man's greed. He is very thankful for the Creation of All Things Jutsu as it gave him something to do for the past ten years when he wasn't watching the world.
Deadshot stares at the Sage in disbelief before he gazes across the wide field of good coins. Unlike the other dimension, it isn't in some sort of underground cave as the sky is clear of clouds. The floor is literally just piles of gold coins while a few mountains and hills which are made of the valuable substance can be seen across the horizon.
"This could help give Zoe a proper future" thought the gunslinger as he thinks about the future of his daughter. A future where she doesn't have to suffer through poverty or die like so many others.
Unknown to him, Naruto has been listening in on his thoughts. "Seems like the merc has a heart after all."
Naruto looks over and sees Harley sliding down a hill of coins while her hyenas looks around in confusion. Mammoth is oddly enough, making angels in a pile of gold while Gizmo is happily kicking and throwing the coins in the air. "So, will this be enough?"
"Enough! I could very well kiss you!" yelled Gizmo, jumping up and down like a child pumped with sugar. With his small stature and bald head, it further gives off the image.
Naruto smirks slightly before releasing his Rinne-Sharingan and returning them back to his dimension.
"Aww~. I liked all the money" moaned Harley in disappointment from her spot on the grassy floor.
"Kill enough bad people and you'll be getting a lot of it" told Naruto, patting the sitting woman on the head.
Said woman smiles and pumps her fist up in the air. "Aye, aye sir! I make sure bad people go bye, bye!"
Deadshot returns to his seat on the boulder and looks over at the Sage. "So when are we gonna start?" Some can almost hear the anticipation in the man's voice.
Naruto shakes his head. "Not just yet. There are two more places needed to be filled. I have an interest on one possible member who I'll be looking into personally. Harley." Harley perks up when she hears her name. "There's someone in Gotham I want you to send an invite to. Someone who I think you might know."
"Really? Let me guess,... Batman!"
"Poison Ivy."
( Watch Tower )
Currently, there's a meeting going on between the main heads of the Justice League. The topic being the disappearance of the Joker.
"There's still nothing about the Joker?" asked Superman to Batman who is attending the meeting through the large monitor while he's still in Gotham.
"Nothing. It's like he vanished in thin air" said Batman with a frown. Even now, he is trying to figure out what is going on in the head of the Clown Prince of Crime.
"Um, not wanting to be a downer but isn't that a good thing?" asked the Flash with his hand raised. Green Lantern nods his head in agreement as he doesn't find a problem with the Joker's disappearance. It just means that there are less people who he'll kill.
"Usually, it would be a blessing but the blood sample found on the crime scene has me worried" told the Martian Manhunter as he leans his chin on his entwined fingers.
"And the blood sample has what in common with the Joker?" asked the Flash with a raised eyebrow.
Batman narrows his eyes on the monitor. "It's the Joker's blood."
"Wait, you're not telling me that someone might have offed the Joker?" Flash can't take that to face value, not since there is nobody stupid or insane enough to possibly kill the Joker. Even thinking about it would get them a face full of his laughing gas. Not a very pleasant way to die.
"It's a possibility" said Wonder Woman, frowning. "We still have no leads on the Joker, nor the symbol of a red cloud."
"A new Villian perhaps?" asked J'onn.
"Or a possible new organization? We cannot ignore any possible outcomes, not until we find the Joker" said Batman. "I've already contacted the rest of the League and even the Titans to keep an eye out for the symbol and any word on the Joker. They've been advised to contact us before they attempt anything if they get any word on them."
"What about the X-Men? They could provide some eyes and ears for us" asked Barry before he shrinks from the withering glare that Batman is sending him from the monitor. Even if he's thousands of miles away from him, Batman can still give them quite a scare wherever he is.
"I refuse to ask for them for any help."
"Can you please not do this now" muttered Hal Jordan as he rubs the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming.
Everyone knows of Batman's dislike for the group of Mutants because they didn't accept the invite to join the Justice League as they prefer to be independent. Most to the League has no problem with the rejection, although Batman has a strong theory that if they aren't with them, then they are against the Justice League. Superman and Wonder Woman have tried several times to get the Dark Knight to let it go but he refuses.
"Look, we'll search for any news on the Joker and the symbol. If nothing comes up for a while, we'll ask for the X-Men's help. How's that?" asked Clark, hoping for his friend to agree.
Batman frowns on the monitor and with a grunt, his image disappears.
"That's a yes if I've ever seen one" joked Barry, getting up from his seat and stretches. "If you all don't mind, I've gotta run." The Flash disappears in and red blur as he heads to the teleporter so he can be back in time for a quick scope of the city before going on his date.
"We should probably go too. Our reservation only last for another hour" said Wonder Woman to Superman who smiles had nod his head. Both stand and head to their rooms so they can get dress in their civilian disguises before they can go on their date in Metropolis.
( Gotham City )
In an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Gotham, Poison Ivy cooing over a few plants that lean in to her touch. She smiles as her 'babies' coo to her affection.
"Red!"
"Harley?" muttered Posion Ivy, surprised to see her friend out and free. Last she heard, she was arrested and put in Arkham after another incident with the Joker.
Harley runs past the trees and plants surrounding the abandoned factory and hugs Poison Ivy, happily. Ivy groans in pain from how tight Harley is hugging her. "Harley, I can feel my ribs cracking" she groaned.
The insane woman blinks before letting go of her and hits the side of her head while sticking out her tongue. "Sorry."
Poison Ivy sighs, although not feeling any annoyance to her friend. At first, it was annoying but overtime, she found amusement in Harley's antics. She just can't see why she always sticks around with the Joker, no matter what he does. She knows that the Clown Prince abuses her and treats Harley like shit, yet she keeps running to his side. She can at least be impressed with Harley's loyalty.
"Not that I hate seeing you but how did you get out of Arkham?"
"I got busted out!"
"Busted out? By who? Joker?" Now, whatever response Ivy expected from her friend, it wasn't her snarling and cursing the Joker's name with enough venom to make Batman wince.
"That piece of crap wouldn't even think twice of breaking me out! He can rot in hell for all I care!" Harley scowl shifts from that of confusion before realization. "That reminds me! I'm here to give you an invitation."
Ivy looks at her friend, feeling unsure if it's really her. The Harley she remembers wouldn't dare say anything bad to her 'Puddin'. "An invitation? From whom?"
"Why, the guy who broke me out of course" laughed Harley, thinking that it was somehow the funniest joke in the world.
Ivy narrows her eyes. "And this guy, did he blackmail or threaten you into being apart of his group?" If that's true, she's going to need to have him meet her 'children'. A vine slivers around her shoulder like a snake. Ivy rubs it and the vine rubs her cheek affectionately.
"Nope. I joined him from my own free will. Isn't that exciting!"
Poison Ivy frowns in thought. "But why would you join up with his group in the first place?"
"Because he killed Puddin'."
( New York City )
"STAY AWAY!" screamed a thug, wearing a wife beater and a red bandana. He runs down an aleeyway, hoping to get away from what is chasing him. Unfortunately, his life is forfeit once he became the prey of a certain Demon.
"You spilled the blood of innocence. Now, I spill yours."
The thug runs around a corner and freezes in horror when he sees a dead end. He looks around for some sort of exit but the windows are top high for him to climb and there's no doors.
"End of the line."
The thug turns around and steps back until his back hits a wall. Sweat pours down his brow as his body shakes uncontrollably as the Demon takes a few steps forward. "S-Stay b-back y-y-you monster!"
Said monster is a skeleton wearing leather pants and a leather jacket. Surrounding the bones of the skeleton are ethereal flames which are somehow not burning away its clothing. Wrapped around its torso is a chain that is covered with the same flames that are enveloping the skeleton. To everyone who may catch a glance of it, they would title it as a Demon.
To the view who knows of it, they call it the Ghost Rider.
"Your hands reek of the blood of the innocent" snarled Ghost Rider as he stomps over to the panicking thug.
The thug reaches to the back of his pants and brandishes a simple pistol and quickly empties its contents at the Ghost Rider. "Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!" he screamed, pulling the trigger over and over, even when it clicks when empty.
Ghost Rider stares down at his chest where the bullet hit there mark. The eight bullets are currently melting away from its intense heat, clearly having no effect on it. Looking back to its prey, it cracks its neck before stomping in front of the thug and grabs him by his wife beater. It lifts the crying thug up in the air and snarls. "Look into my eyes!"
For some reason, the thug couldn't resist himself and stare into the hollow sockets of the Rider's skull. However, he immediately regrets it as he starts to see the memories of all the people he killed. Unfortunately, is also feeling all the pain and suffering he did to those who he wronged.
Ghost Rider drops the thug whos lifeless eyes have smoke and fire escaping them, effects of the Rider's Penance Stare. Turning around, it walks down the alley to return to its bike but stops and looks towards a shadowed corner.
"I can feel~ your presence."
A few moments later, a stoic Naruto walks out of the shadows. Inwardly, he is finding himself impressed with power of the individual in front of him and the fact that it can sense himself. He can tell that if they were to fight, the city wouldn't last too long under their conflict.
"You.." Ghost Rider points a flaming bony finger at Naruto. "Innocent."
Naruto raises a brow before disappearing from view to only appear in front of the Ghost Rider who glares at him, seemingly not impressed that someone is in its way.
"Get out of my way."
"Why would I do that when you haven't even heard about my proposition for you?" asked Naruto with a small smirk.
"Not interested" said Ghost Rider, pushing past Naruto who doesn't try to stop him. It places two boney fingers to his mouth and blows out a high pitch whistle. The sound of an engine revving echoes throughout the alleyway. At the bend of the alleyway, the shadows scurry away as a flaming motor bike drives around on its own and stops beside the Rider who hops onto it and revs the engine before doing a donut to face the bike to the exit. Before the Ghost Rider leaves, Naruto's voice speaks up from over the sounds of the flaming engine.
"Not even if it involves the saving of innocent lives and the death of the corrupt and evil?"
If it wasn't for the fact that the Rider is a flaming skeleton, the speed that it turns its neck might have given it whiplash. Naruto stares unflinchingly as the Rider stares into his own eyes, seemingly looking for any deception or lies.
"I'm listening."
( Naruto's Dimension )
"Amazing" gasped Poison Ivy as she takes in the surroundings of the dimension or rather, the many strange plants that are calling out to her.
"I know right?" giggled Harley. "Sage says he made this place all by himself."
"If that's true, I wouldn't mind having a consversarion with this Sage" told Ivy, rubbing a strange purple flower which has a large set of sharp teeth. The flowerans to Ivy's touch, making the woman smiles happily and giggles a bit when more of the plants start to gather around her to get some affection as well.
"Where the hell is the Sage anyway? Shouldn't he be back by now?" asked Red Hood to Deadshot who is loading all of his guns.
Deadshot lifts a brow from under his mask. "What? Feeling a bit outclassed are we?" he teased, enjoying the glare from the former Boy Wonder.
"Well, when I'm trapped in a cave full of carnivorous plants and a woman who can control them with no exits, I feel sort of naked."
Deadshot hums but doesn't reply, preferring to get back to his guns.
Luckily for Red Hood, a dimensional portal opens not too far away which signifies that the Sage has returned. Only, nobody expects a flaming skeleton in leather to drive through the portal, leaving a trail of flames.
Immediately, Red Hood pulls out his twin pistols and aims them at the flaming skeleton while Deadshot does the same with his sniper rifle. Not too far away, Harley twirls her new hammer and grins while Ivy starts ordering the plants to prepare an attack. Gizmo is already in the air by using his jet back and has a misisle poking out of the side of it. Mammoth tenses, preparing to charge at the skeleton.
Ghost Rider lifts himself off of his vehicle and looks around the cave and its inhabitants. Giving them a look, he chuckles in amusement when he sees their weapons all pointing at him.
Gizmo blinks when he notices a certain mark on the collar of the Rider's leather jacket. "Wait a minute, isn't that the mark for the Akatauki?" he pointed out towards said mark.
Naruto walks through the portal with his usual stoic expression. "That is correct. Ghost Rider has agreed to work alongside us and to spread our influence while we're training."
"Training? Nobody said anything about training!" exclaimed Red Hood. "We can't waste anymore time! Besides, we don't need training!"
Naruto looks at Red Hoodm his facial expression not once changing. "Yet, I can kill all of you here with a single finger."
Deadshot aims his AK47 at the Sage. "Want to test that theory?"
To everyone's but the Rider's surprise, Naruto vanishes from sight, only to reappear beside Deadshot on the boulder. Another surprise comes in the form of Naruto shoving a finger into the barrel of Deadshot's gun. The merc involuntarily pulls the trigger but instead of a bullet splitting Naruto's finger, the bullet smashes through the back of the weapon, just barely missing the merc's shoulder. Deadshot stares down at his broken gun with a very shocked expression while Naruto looks down at him with a light glare. "Have I passed your test?"
Deadshot stares up at the Sage, happy that he has his mask on to hide his facial expression. "With flying colours" he muttered, unsure on what else to say. The fact being, the Sage just did a Superman on him so he isn't sure how to respond to that.
Naruto nods his head before noticing the extra in the room. "Poison Ivy isn't it?"
Poison Ivy doesn't respond, too confused and shocked to release a sound. Not because she just witnessed someone move almost as fast as the Flash or by stopping a bullet with a single finger. No, the reason for being speechless is because she can hear all the plants call out for the Sage in need. Just the way the 'children' call out for the man, like as if he is a god is something she has never seen before, not even with herself. None of her 'children' shows as much want and love for her like these plants do for him. A scary and sad thought.
"Red? You alright?" Harley asked her friend, tilting her body to the wide to look at Ivy's face from below.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine" muttered Poison Ivy, shaking herself from her thoughts.
"Harley, did you explain to Ivy about the goals of the Akatsuki?" asked Naruto, looking over to the insane woman. Said insane woman smirks and playfully salutes him. "I'll take that as a yes."
"She also mentioned how you are interested in me joining" said Poison Ivy, her eyes narrowing at the Sage while putting her uneasy thoughts into the back of her head. "Why would I join this Akatsuki group in the first place? It sounds a bit far fetch to me."
Naruto nods, agreeing with the Meta-Human's point of view. The reason he wants her is because of her natural ability to control plant life which can be handy for both defence and offence. Her pheromones can also be handy for interrogation since she can just control anyone she wants with a simple kiss, as Harley has told him about her abilities. His eyes drifts down to her stomach as he remembers another fact that Harley mentioned about Poison Ivy.
"Maybe I can help you with a certain... problem."
Ivy frowns and stares intently into Naruto's blue eyes, wondering what he means by problem. "And what problem do I have that you can fix?" she asked, ready to release her pheromones when he says the wrong thing.
"I can fix your ability to reproduce."
Whatever Ivy was going to say died in her throat as she looks at the Sage with eyes wide and full of surprise and possible hope. That is until she remembers the fact that no sort of technology on the planet can heal her from what Woodrue did to her. "Don't you lie to me!" she roared as the nearby plants come to her aid, surrounding her with a few sharp vines and throns aiming at Naruto who raises a hand to stop anyone else from attacking. "You can't heal what he did to me! Nobody can!"
Sighing, Naruto collects a very small amount of Nature Chakra and releases it through his feet. The Chakra travels through the earth and the effects are noticeable to everyone as the grass turns greener and the plants relax, ignoring the call of Ivy. Naruto steps forward to the frantic Poison Ivy who desperately tries to order the plants to attack him. "I can rid a body of all diseases, regenerate a missing limb and if I wanted to, replace a dying heart with a new one within seconds. If I can do all this, I am one hundred percent confident that I can heal your womb." He placed a hand on top of Ivy's head, being a bit taller than her and smiles. An honest smile in which nobody has seen for the past few millennium.
Red Hood, Deadshot and Gizmo glance at each other, all wondering if he can actually do that.
Ivy quickly realizes that her pheromones aren't working on him as he doesn't look at her with a daze look like so many before him who have been effected by her pheromones. She tries to push him away and to call him a liar but she can't. Simply being, she can feel the same energy within her 'children' from within the Sage but in such a greater number that she can't believe he's actually human. There's also the fact that he is saying all of that with such confidence that she can feel a little bit of hope dwell up inside her. To actually have a child of her own. A human child.
"W-What do I have to do?"
Naruto pats her head before taking a step back to give he back her personal space. His stoic expression now back as he stares into her eyes, making her squirm from the way that it feels like he's staring right into her soul.
"Swear your loyalty to the Akatsuki."
Page 29 of 29